Into The Dark Side
by CourageToLooseSightOfTheShore
Summary: Indie's whole world is turned upside down when she meets Joseph. She I'd drawn to him both physically and emotionally. BUT Indie soon finds herself in a DEADLY WEB OF LIES, MURDER, LUST, TRAGEDY AND LOVE. CONTAINS ADULT THEMES! PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK :)
1. Sneak Peak

Blood covered every inch of his neck and his chest. I could see the flesh ripped from the side of his throat leaving behind a gaping hole and a pool of blood quickly growing on the concrete beneath him. I quickly placed my hands over his neck trying to stop the bleeding.

"You'll be ok, you'll be ok" I screamed at him

"HELP, somebody help us" I cried.

It was no use, I tried to get the words out of my mouth loud enough for someone to hear mebut a lump had formed in my throat making it impossible to scream and the only noise that came out was a harsh crackly whisper.

I sat there on the cold hard concrete, my hands pressing into his neck, feeling his pulse getting weaker at tips of my fingers and there was nothing I could do but sit there sobbingand watching on as this man's life slipped away from me.  
The last pulses of blood rushing out through the hole in his neck, spilling out between my fingers onto the concrete below.

I don't know how long I sat there for. I sat just staring at my hands now covered in blood.  
I looked at his body… observed how tattered his clothes were… his face unshaven… his hands dirty and the flesh ripped from his neck.  
He was someone son, possibly someone's father or brother. All I could do was sit and look at him.

The tears finally stopped flowing after what felt like forever but I couldn't move.  
Numbness washed me and an eerie calm that filled the alley.

I glanced around but there was no one in sight; just me and the body in front of me.


	2. Chapter 1

**This is my first official book draft, so PLEASE if you have any suggestions it would be great if you could leave a review. I have a plot in mind but wanted to steer away from the Bella and Edward story and kind of create my own from a different perspective. I am writing them both in as characters but my focus is on the characters i have invented myself. I update each chapter often trying to improove what i have already written so your reviews will definatly help :)**

* * *

_Into The Dark Side_

Chapter one

I first laid eyes on Joseph, while I was on working at the local hospital. Two years into my nursing studies at university with only a year to go… I couldn't wait!

It was Friday night and I was finishing up the first week of a two week placement at St Mary's Hospital.

It had been a reasonably slow night and staring up at the clock, in my own little world I kept thinking; forty-five minutes Indie, just forty-five minutes and you can knock off, head home and crack open a bottle of wine with Lexi.

Lexi is my best friend and room-mate. We had become inseparable since meeting at the beginning of high school.

I was just finishing up some paperwork now that it was quiet when I heard the sliding doors open. I glanced up briefly and the man walking in was surprisingly someone I had never seen before.

Cardinia was such a small place that I'm sure if I had seen THIS man before... I would have remembered him!

He was strikingly good looking. The kind of good looking that makes your heart pound at the mere sight of him. He was tall, though not too tall and really well dressed in blue jeans, a pale blue V-neck t-shirt and what looked like a black jacket slung over his shoulder. He had a flawless complexion and his dark hair fell in wisps across his brow.

He stared straight at me and I couldn't help but notice he had the bluest eyes I had ever seen.

* * *

I was too busy staring this guy to realise he was walking straight towards the service desk where I was sitting. In a world of my own (as I often am) I didn't even realise when he started speaking... That he was speaking to me.

"Excuse me miss?...miss?"

"Sorry, what?" I replied snapping myself out of trance I was in.

"I'm looking for a patient by the name of James Peterson" he continued.

"Um yes sorry Mr?"

"Mr Alexander, Joseph Alexander" he looked straight at me with such an intense look on his face that it literally took my breath away from me.

"Certainly, are you a...a relative of Mr Peterson?" I replied still trying to snap myself back to reality.

For fuck sake Indie! Snap the hell out of it! He's a just a guy I thought, a very sexygorgeous looking guy. My mind started to wander again.

"No, but I am the closest thing to family that he has."

OH god... the way his lips moved as he spoke sent chills down my spine. What the hell was wrong with me? Snap out of it Indie!

"Certainly Mr Alexander, he's in room eight just down the hall." I replied.

Surely he could sense me staring at him; it had to be obvious to anyone else standing around us. I bowed my head trying to look a little less obvious.

"Thank you...Miss?"

I looked up at him again "Indie, my name is Indie"

Oh how embarrassing, I could feel my cheeks going red but could do nothing to stop it. I could sense other people in that hall way staring at us. Were they staring at him for his good looks or at me laughing; because I imagined my cheeks we're quite a shade of tomato red bythen?

"Pleasure to meet you Miss Indie and thank you"

He turned and headed down the hall leaving me staring after him.

* * *

Seven o'clock finally rolled around and I hadn't seen Mr 'ever so sexy' Alexander since our first encounter at the service desk. I was actually a little disappointed but it was time to get out here.

I quickly made my way to the change rooms to grab my bag then headed for the exit.

As I stepped outside into the cold evening, I wished then that I hadn't parked my car so far across the damn parking lot.

It was parked roughly twenty cars down. I picked up the pace trying to get to it and get out of the cold as quickly as possible.

Fishing around through my handbag for my keys though, I was oblivious to the fact someone was following me until I reached my car and felt someone tap me on the shoulder.

"Miss Indie?" I spun around with such force I almost tripped over.

"Jesus christ, you shouldn't scare people like that" I blurted out at him.

"Sorry Miss Indie, didn't mean to startle you"

I didn't realise just how close he was standing until I looked at him and I caught the sweet scent of his cologne. His face was slightly hardened and looked as though I had wounded himsomehow. I then realised just how harsh I had probably sounded.

"It's alright; you just gave me a fright. Mr Alexander isn't it? Are you lost; is there something I can help you with?"

"No, I'm not lost as such, although I was hoping you could point me into direction of the Peterson property? that is where I will be staying while I'm in town."

Peterson property? hadn't he just been with Mr Peterson?

I would have thought if he was staying there then he would have made sure Mr Peterson told him how to get there.

I looked up into his eyes and for a split second felt like I could disappear in them.

They were icy blue, not the normal blue you see on most blue eyed people. There was something about these eyes that made my heart race and my legs almost turn to jelly.

They had flecks of aqua green in them but were surrounded by icy sky blue. I'd never seen eyes like them before, they were guarded almost wounded looking eyes yet full of excitement.

"Um yeah, if you take a left at the car park exit, head straight down to the old bridge and it's the last driveway on the right. You can't miss it; it has big black iron gates."

"Thank you… You're studying to become a nurse yes?"

I glanced down at my shirt but realised that I wasn't wearing my student badge. I had been running late that morning and left it sitting at home. How the hell did he know I was student? I looked at him with a curious expression.

"I asked one of the other nurses inside, I hope you don't mind but I was curious as to who was caring for James" He cut in; reading my puzzled expression.

"Um no that's fine" I replied, I didn't know what to say.

To anybody else it was probably a very innocent inquiry but like I said; I overanalyse everything.

"Yes I am. I'm here completing clinical placement"

"How long is your clinical placement? Will you be here tomorrow?" He looked at me will a cocky yet calm eagerness that made my heart skip a beat.

"No, tomorrow is Saturday, I don't work weekends."

I couldn't help but notice just how defined his facial features were, they were flawless. His chiselled jawline; with perfect symmetry to the rest of his face. His lips so soft looking and so well defined.

"I see, well thank you for your help and perhaps I will see you around town then"

Before I even had the chance to reply he had turned and headed back towards the hospital.

I looked briefly at my keys then glanced after him, but he was gone. I scanned the car park quickly but he was nowhere in sight.

When I arrived home Lexi's car was parked in the drive way, I was looking forward to seeing her and filling her in on the evenings events.

As I walked through the front door I heard the familiar sound of the loud pop of a wine cork shooting out of the bottle and the clink of wine glasses coming out of the cupboard.

"Hey, how was your night?" Lexi yelled from the kitchen.

As I walked through the large doors that divided the entrance from the kitchen all I could do was smile. I don't know what was wrong with me but the whole drive home all I could think about was him and when I looked Lexi in the face no words came out of my mouth.

"Oh my god" she replied with such excitement in her voice "you met a guy didn't you?"

I could see the excitement spread across her face and even though I hadn't said a word, she could read me like an open book.

"No" I lied. Sheepishly trying to hide the excitement spreading across my own face.

"Liar!" Lexi blurted out.

"Tell me everything... is he a doctor? Ooh a doctor would be good, he could help us study. Oh and get us all the cool cases." She grinned

"Besides let's face it Indie, you really need laid. I keep telling you to get out more. You're fast becoming a 'born again virgin" She giggled to herself looking at me with a sly grin on her face.

"Bitch!" I replied laughing

"and he's not a doctor. I actually don't know who he is, he was gorgeous though. Tall, dark and really sexy eyes but seriously; it was nothing. He asked for a patient's room number, I told him then he left."

Lexi handed me a glass of wine, I stared at the red crimson liquid in my glass and swirled itround and round like you see wine testers do before they take a sip, swish it round in their mouth and spit it out again. Something I never quite understood.

"I bumped into him again in the car park though." I said a view seconds later.

"And?"

"It was a bit creepy really, he asked my for the patients address"

"What's so creepy about that?"

"I don't know, but you'd think if he was staying there, that he would have gotten the address already. And the way he looked at me creeped me out a little, the next thing I knew, he was gone."

"Maybe he saw just how gorgeous you really are and had to talk to you again" Lexi grinned

I rolled my eyes at her.

"Yeah that was defiantly it" I said sarcastically then changed the subject to the events of her day.

* * *

As I stood in the shower letting the hot steamy water run down my back later on that evening all I could think about was Joseph. What was it about this man that I couldn't get him out of my head?

What I did tell her though of course had made her extremely excited to meet this 'Mr Mysterious' (as she had now nicknamed him) and given the size of Cardinia; that was going to be a pretty big possibility.

But there was something about Joseph that I couldn't quite put my finger on. He was mysterious and far too polite for someone of our age, Miss Indie? I mean what the hell was that about?

But oh my god the way he looked at me made me feel completely subdued and his presence had stirred something inside of me that I had never felt before.

I wanted to see him again... I had to see him again.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter two

"Joseph, we can't. Not here, someone will see us" I cried out from the hospital store room.

"Shhh" he replied.

Placing his finger under my chin to lift my face up to meet his. Our eyes met and without hesitation he pushed his lips onto mine, those beautiful sexy looking lips felt so soft, yet his tongue was so forceful as it found its way between my parted lips. I pushed my tongue to meet his, swirling it around trying to take in every bit of his kiss.  
His arms wrapped themselves around my body in a tight embrace, I could feel the strength in them and I wanted more… much more. I moved my hands up between us feeling the ripples of chest muscles against the palms of my hands. His sweet scent made my legs feel like they would cave out from under me at any moment and I felt a pulsating urge between my legs that had me wanting every inch of him.

"I want you Indie"

He pulled me into him closely, my heart pounding from inside my chest, my breath fast and heavy. Oh my; I thought I could explode at any moment.

* * *

"Indie!"

"Indie!"

I awoke to Lexi yelling at me from the end of my bed.

"Get out of bed, its nine o'clock"

Damn you Lexi, I thought.

"Ok ok I'm getting up, no need to yell"

"Good dream?" she chuckled

"I'll put the kettle on than shall I"

With that she left my room leaving me to grasp what the hell had just happened. I sat up in bed, my heart pounding out of my chest and a longing between my legs for what could have been.

Heading downstairs still in my pyjamas I heard laughter coming from the kitchen. Lexi and Bella were sitting at the kitchen table chatting away about Bella's new boyfriend Edward.  
Bella was one of our closest friends who we both met at university. She was gorgeous; with her long blonde wavy hair, flawless complexion and the girl every available guy at university seemed to have the hots for.

"Well hey there sleepy head" Bella grinned at me when I entered the kitchen.

"Hey yourself" I replied

"So did you have a good dream" Lexi blurted out with her head half-cocked to the side and a huge grin on her face.

I could feel my cheeks go bright red.

"Yes actually it was" I said with smirk

"Ooh what are you both not telling me?" Bella replied

"Indie met some gorgeous Mr Mysterious at the hospital yesterday"

Bella's face lit up with excitement just like I knew it would and chuckled to myself.

"Oh now you definitely have to tell me what the dream was about" she laughed

I smiled at her with my 'I'm not telling you anything' look.

"Lexi will fill you in all about Joseph I'm sure while I go take a shower!" I replied with a smirk

"Joseph hey? First name basis already" Bella loved gossip and I knew she was going to have a field day with this one.

I laughed "no it's not like that, he's just a family member of a patient I looked after the other day"

"Then what was with all the moaning and groaning this morning" Lexi emphasised

I could have killed her in that very moment. My cheeks went tomato red and I scowled at her.

"So what's on for the weekend Bella?" I stated trying so hard to change the subject

"I'll fill you in later Bella" Lexi smirked and Bella nodded at her, eyes wide open and a smirk on her face.

"Bella and I were thinking of heading into town in a few minutes. There's that festival on down the main street, to raise money for the town church renovations. Wanna come with?"

Crap…I had completely forgotten about the festival, the town church had caught on fire a couple of months ago after some candles were left smouldering. It had burned half the side of the church down before the fire brigade could get to it. The insurance wasn't enough to cover the total costs of the repairs so the town committee had organised a fundraising festival to cover the rest of the costs.  
"Yeah sure why not. I'll just duck upstairs and have a shower now. Give me fifteen minutes"

When we got to the festival it was already in full swing. There were craft stalls lining the main street which spilled into the nearby park. Selling everything from hand-made soap to furniture. They were food stalls scattered throughout which were giving off some mouth-watering scents. My stomach growled at me and I realised; I hadn't even had breakfast yet.

"Hey guys I'm going to get something to eat, what are you two doing?" I asked

"Bella spotted Edward over there at the park, so I think we will head over there and say hi. Meet you there?"

"Sure, I'll grab some food and meet you over there"

Lexi smiled at me and Bella grabbed her arm and headed towards to park, leaving me standing alone scanning the food stalls for something good to eat.

"Miss Indie?"

A familiar voice called from behind me snapping me out of search for food. When I turned around Joseph was standing in front of me with a grin on his face.

"Mr Alexander, Hi"

"Call me Joseph." He smiled

"Wow your little town puts on a great festival" he said eagerly

There was something in the way he spoke. He had such a confident sexy tone to his voice anda half-cocked grin that made me feel completely powerless in his presence.

"Yes, yes they do. How's James?" I replied

"James? Oh yeah he's fine, getting much better thanks. Would you join me for a cup of coffee?"

I could feel my heart picking up speed when the flash backs of this morning's dream came to mind. I pushed the thought back.

"That would be great. I was just looking around at what I was going to have for breakfast. There's a great little coffee shop on the corner that sell the best croissants if you would like to go there?"

The food stalls at the festival looked as though they were mostly hotdogs, chips and cakes. Not really breakfast food I so figured the coffee shop was my safest bet and at least we would be out of the prying eyes of Lexi and Bella.

"Sound great, lead the way Miss Indie"

I turned my attention from the food stalls to him and realized that his glare had not moved from my face

"Indie is just fine. You can just call me Indie." I smiled

"Of course"

He held out his hand and bowed slightly to gesture me into leading the way towards the coffee shop. Who was this guy? I kept thinking. Polite, well-mannered and I had defiantly noticed he was once again well dressed in a pair of tan coloured cargo pants and a well-fitting black t-shirt that showed every muscle down his arms perfectly.  
My stomach felt like I had a hundred butterflies in it.

We ordered our coffee and sat at one of the little tables next to the window which overlooked the festival. It was only a small coffee shop, but it had the best coffee in town and Lexi and I came here at least three times a week.

I sat across the table from Joseph trying so hard not to blush at that fact he hadn't taken his eyes off me since we sat down.

"So Joseph, what do you do? Are you working?"

"No, I'm between jobs at the moment; you could say I'm taking some time off. How about you Indie, I'm not very exciting so tell me a little about you."

Wow shut down with one question, I thought to myself.

"Ok, well there's not a whole to tell you either. My parents moved to the city so my friendLexi and I share a place together until I finish university then hopefully I will do the Edwarde."

"Move to the city?"

He looked at me so intensely like he was hanging onto every word that came out of my mouth.

We sat at the coffee shop for what seemed like forever...Me talking and him listening.  
There was a knock at the shop window where we were sitting and I looked up to see Lexi,Bella and Edward standing out the front waving at me to come out.

"That's Lexi, with the blonde hair, I was telling you about her. I told them I would meet them after I got something to eat."

I glanced at my watch which read 11:45AM, holy crap we had been there for almost an hour. I jumped out my seat and grabbed my bag which was hanging from the end of the chair.

"Come outside, I'd like to introduce you" I said

Joseph glanced out the window and rose from him chair

"Sure, ok"

"Where the bloody hell have you been" Lexi asked when we reached the pavement out front.

"Sorry, got caught up… Lexi, Bella, Edward this is Joseph. He's staying in town for a while."

"Nice to meet you all" Joseph nodded in Edward's direction "Edward" he said coldly

"Joseph" Edward stared at him

"Oh you to know each other" Bella cut in

"You could say that. we go way back don't we Edward?"

Edward glared at Joseph and you could sense the tension between the two of them. Lexi looked at me with a 'what the hell is that about look' I gave her a discreet shoulder shrug. I couldn't help but notice the way they both glared at each other; their bodies were tense, staring each other down. They knew each other obviously, but it was clear that they were defiantly not friends, far from it. How could they know each other? Joseph had only just gotten into town and Edward had only been in town a few months himself.

"So are we going?" Lexi's bubbly voice broke the silence and the dead lock stare between Joseph and Edward.

Joseph shifted his glaze to me

"I should probably get going... Head past the hospital and see James"  
I looked at Joseph trying to figure out what he was thinking.

Lexi Cut in "ok well nice to meet you finally" she winked at me.

Oh my god how embarrassing. Edward put his arm around Bella's shoulders and gave Joseph a cold hard stare.

"I'll be with you guys in a sec" I cut in.

Lexi shrugged her shoulders and smiled. As they headed down the street, I turned to look at Joseph. He stood there with an intense almost angry gaze upon his face starring after Edward. I touched his arm which made him jump slightly.

"Are you alright? you and Edward, what's the deal with that? how do you guys know each other?"

"I'm fine...I'm good really. Edward's family knew my family a few years ago. It's nothing, really just petty family squabbles."

"It didn't look like nothing."

I wanted to know why they both acted like they wanted to punch each other's lights out. But I could see Joseph's expression telling me to leave it alone.

"I would like to see you again Indie"

His whole posture changed and as if someone had flicked a switch and he became that cool, confident and ever-so sexy Mr Mysterious again.

The rest of the weekend past by without much excitement and by Sunday evening I was looking forward to work in the morning.  
As I laid out my work uniform over my desk chair I couldn't help but wonder if I would see Joseph at the hospital. I wondered if James would still be there giving Joseph a reason to be there too. I finished organising my clothes and climbed into bed, it didn't take me too long to drift of to sleep.

* * *

When I woke it was still semi dark outside, I glanced at my bedside clock and it read 4:48AM. Grrr I thought, it's too late to go back to sleep as I'd set my alarm for 5:30AM so it was far too early to get dressed and I knew I would wake Lexi if I turned the shower on.  
I wriggled out from under the covers, chucked my slippers on and headed downstairs to make coffee.  
Sitting in the kitchen I had butterflies in my stomach again wondering if I would see him at the hospital.  
I couldn't get enough of him, he was in my thoughts all the time and I longed to see him again, to talk to him, to smell that sweet scent of him.  
I glanced at the clock once more and realised I had been sitting there in a daydream for almost thirty five minutes. It was now 5:25AM and I headed upstairs for a shower and to get ready for work.

The morning was absolutely flat out at the hospital with observation rounds, showers and medication rounds. I had hardly thought about Joseph all morning until I was walking down the corridor and noticed the back of a familiar person standing outside James's room.  
He turned when he heard my foot steps and smiled. I glanced at his beautiful calm face and the butterflies reappeared which was now fast becoming a regular thing.  
When I got closer to him I noticed something odd about his shirt it was white but had a red stain across the collar, that's blood I realised after a second. I had a sense of immediate panic and quickened my pace to get to him.

"Good morning Indie, I was hoping I might see you today" He started with a smile

"Joseph, what happened? Is that blood on your shirt? Are you alright? Are you hurt?" I blurted out.

He quickly glanced down at his t-shirt then looked straight at me

"Oh shit" he muttered

"No No I'm fine, it's um… I had a blood nose. I'm fine now though... Really."

There was something in his voice that told me there was more to it than just a bloody nose but I didn't question him. Why would he lie about it? I couldn't see any sign that would lead me to think maybe he had been in some sort of a fight. There were no marks on his face and his clothes were clean apart from the blood stain that ran alongside his collar to the side of his neck and dripped down the front of his shirt.

Looking back on that day I now know it wasn't his blood and there was defiantly no bloodynose. I don't know whose blood it was that day and to be perfectly honest, I don't want to.

* * *

We had agreed to meet down in the hospital cafeteria on my lunch break.  
When I arrived I saw him sitting at a two person table by the window that overlooked the hospital gardens.  
As I approached; he stood and walked behind the chair opposite pulling it out from under the table so I could sit. We sat talking, laughing and enjoying each other's company for almost an hour. It came so easy as if we had known each other forever.  
I glanced at my watch; 12:55pm

"Oh crap, I'm going to be late. I have to go, Thank you" I smiled at him

"Indie… have dinner with me tonight?" He blurted out

He took me by surprise and it took me a few seconds to realise what he had said.  
I looked at him in surprise.

"Ok" was all I could muster while smiling at him like a fool.

"I mean, I would love to" I quickly replied

Joseph leapt out of his chair and darted across the room to another table filled with doctors and nursing staff. They exchanged words that I couldn't make out from across the room. I saw somebody give him a pen and a piece of paper and looked on standing by myself as he scribbled something down. He handed the pen back then casually walked back to where we were sitting. He stood in front of me while a slight grin on his face and handed me the piece of paper.

"My phone number" he said, his smile widening slightly.

"You pick the time and I will be there to pick you up"

"Ok, sounds great. I will let you know this afternoon. I really need to get back though, I'm now officially late"

"Go and I look forward to hearing from you later then"  
I stuffed the piece of paper into my pants pocket, smiled and hurried out the door.

The rest of my shift seemed to drag on forever and all I could think about was what was I going to wear? I wonder where he will take me. There's that nice little Chinese restaurant down on Smiths Street; they have really great food.  
He's only just come to town so no doubt I'll have to pick somewhere. Maybe I could borrowLexi's white top; the long sleeved one that seemed to sit absolutely perfect on me. It's toochilly to wear anything but jeans and a long sleeved top and I'm sure Lexi won't mind. She hardly wears it. Yes that's the one; I'll ask Lexi as soon as I get home.

I glanced at the clock; Holy crap, it's already 3:00pm, I've only got half an hour to finish up! I quickly darted towards the nurse's station to fill out my paperwork for the day.  
Trying to get paperwork done while all I could think about was my dinner with Joseph was near bloody impossible.  
It was 3:45pm by the time I got out and when you so excited to get home and start getting ready; running late by fifteen minutes feels like two hours.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

"Indie? Is that you?" Lexi shouted from somewhere upstairs as I came through the front door.

"Yeah it's me" I shouted back

Suddenly Lexi came bounding down the stairs with a huge grin on her face.

"SO…. Who's taking you out for dinner huh?" she said with such excitement yet she had a sly-ness in her voice that told me she already knew the answer.

"How did you know?"

"Oh I don't know" she smirked and tapped her index finger to her chin looking up at the ceiling "A little birdy told me"

"Hmm or maybe it was the note that came with…. the big bunch of gorgeous roses on the kitchen table!" Lexi blurted out.

"Roses?" I replied, shocked. Had Joseph actually sent me roses? I felt myself blushing and watched as Lexi stood there nodding and clapping her hands together in excitement.

I wandered into the kitchen and there on the table sat a bouquet of half a dozen long stemmed pink roses wrapped together in purple cellophane with a pink ribbon tied around it. I picked them up off the table and saw a white card in between the leaves, it read;

'Looking forward to dinner, hope you had a wonderful day'  
I smiled at the thought of dinner and suddenly felt extremely nervous. I don't know if I was nervous because I was going to dinner with him or because there was something about him that felt off somehow.

"so… I'm assuming they are from Mr Mysterious am I right"

I nodded in reply and Lexi swept the roses from my arms to smell the sweet scent that was coming from them and filling the kitchen.

"Wow, he sure knows how to impress, that's for sure" she said enthusiastically

"There's something about him Lexi, I just can't quite put my finger on it though. I mean what the hell was that thing with Edward about yesterday? Did Bella and Edward say anything after you guys left?"

"Nope Edward just said they used to be family friends but they didn't get along. That was it, he didn't go into details. But hey that's between them. And let's face it every girl in Cardinia is talking about how gorgeous he is but clearly he's interested in you! So I say go for it"

* * *

It was 7:00pm and I was just putting on some lip gloss to finalize my make up when I heard the doorbell ring. My stomach filled with butterflies almost instantly and I could not believe just how nervous I really was.  
I had picked out my favourite pair of blue jeans to wear, matched it with Lexi's white long sleeved top that had a slit down the length of each arm, threw on my favourite pair of brown calf high boots and accessorised with a long silver necklace that had an owl pendent on it. My mother had given it to me before they left for the city and I always wore it on special occasions.

Joseph was standing outside on the porch with Lexi when I came downstairs. He looked so handsome in a pair of blue jeans with a well fitted V-neck t-shirt and black leather jacket on.

"Hi and thank you for the flowers, they were beautiful" I said as I approached the front door.

He smiled; I glanced at Lexi who had a huge grin of her face.

"Ok you two go and have a great night" said Lexi as Joseph gestured me towards the car.

I hadn't even thought about how we were going to get to dinner until I saw Joseph's black sports car sitting in the driveway. Wow nice car, I thought to myself. My thoughts then turned to wondering what exactly it was that Joseph did for a living.

* * *

Pulling up to the curb of the little Chinese restaurant in the middle of town I was excited and nervous to be alone with him once again. I don't know why I felt the way I did, maybe because he was absolutely gorgeous and I was just plain old me.  
I didn't think my looks were too bad, don't get me wrong but I wasn't as pretty or outgoing as other girls I knew. I had long brown hair; just past my shoulders, blue eyes and I must admit I had a pretty good figure from jogging everyday but I wasn't one for loads of makeup or done up hair and jewellery. I was just me.

Joseph came around to the passenger side door and opened it for me. I grabbed my purse and stepped out onto the curb.  
Suddenly someone came at me out of know where and before I knew what was going on they had ripped my purse out my hand and knocked me to the ground. Joseph was instantly by my side.

"Fuck Indie, are you ok? Are you hurt? Did he hurt you-"

"No, no I'm fine, my purse, he took my-"

"Wait here!"

Before I knew what was going on Joseph was taking off after him. A passer-by saw what had happened and came running over to me.

"Miss are you alright, let me help you"

"I fine really, I didn't hurt myself" I replied in a shaky voice.

"Your boyfriend-"

"He's not-" I couldn't get the words out.

"It's ok; here let me help you up"

As I got to my feet I shut the car door and without hesitating, started running after Joseph. I didn't even thank the man who had helped me up but I had to find him. I only got a blockaway when I saw something out of the corner of my eye down the back alley beside the coffee shop. I came to a complete halt. I watched in horror as the body of the man who had robbed me dropped to the ground andJoseph was standing over it.  
His face hardened with rage. I could see blood dripping from his lips and what looked like fangs bearing out at me from under them. His eyes were pitch black and filled with nothing but evil in them. He glared at me in shock or horror I don't know but all I could do was look at him, his face and his teeth. The lifeless body at his feet, I just stood there.

He stared at me in shock and within a second his eyes turned blue again, the rage left his face and his teeth went back to normal. He quickly wiped the blood from his lips

"Indie" he whispered painfully but he just stood there staring at me.

"I'm sorry" he said and with that he disappeared.

I looked down at the ground trying to grasp what was happening. I wanted so badly to run, to scream, to yell for help! Anything… But I couldn't move.

My legs stuck firmly in place, panting, my heart pounding against the wall of my chest.  
I looked down at the broken lifeless body that lay in front of me. I felt a surge of adrenalinwash over me and I rushed to his side.

"Wake up, please wake up" I shocked his shoulders but his head just flopped to the side.

Blood covered every inch of his neck and his chest. I could see the flesh ripped from the side of his throat leaving behind a gaping hole in his neck and a pool of blood quickly growing on the concrete beneath him. I quickly placed my hands over his neck trying to stop the bleeding.

"You'll be ok, you'll be ok" I screamed at him

"HELP, somebody help us" I cried.

It was no use, I tried to get the words out of my mouth loud enough for someone to hear mebut a lump had formed in my throat making it impossible to scream and the only noise that came out was a harsh crackly whisper.

I sat there on the cold hard concrete, my hands pressing into his neck, feeling his pulse getting weaker at tips of my fingers and there was nothing I could do but sit there sobbingand watching on as this man's life slipped away from me.  
The last pulses of blood rushing out through the hole in his neck, spilling out between my fingers onto the concrete below.

I don't know how long I sat there for. I sat just staring at my hands now covered in blood.  
I looked at his body… observed how tattered his clothes were… his face unshaven… his hands dirty and the flesh ripped from his neck.  
He was someone son, possibly someone's father or brother. All I could do was sit and look at him.

The tears finally stopped flowing after what felt like forever but I couldn't move.  
Numbness washed me and an eerie calm that filled the alley.

I glanced around but there was no one in sight; just me and the body in front of me.

I spotted my purse a few feet away and so I pushed myself up off the hard ground what little strength I had in me and walked over to pick it up.

I don't know why I didn't call the police. I should have but I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

As I started walking towards home still trying to grasp what had happened I realised I wasn't afraid of Joseph instead I was just so desperate for answers but to questions I didn't know how I was going to ask.  
In that moment though, right then, even after everything that had happened and what I had just witnessed all I wanted was him.

* * *

As I climbed into the shower; I watched as the blood mixed together with the water and made its way down the plug hole. I stared at it… numb and in total disbelief of what had occurred that evening.  
Images of Joseph's face flashed through my head. Who was he? What was he? But deep in the pit of my stomach, I already knew the answer to that.  
We had studied vampires back in high school. I had even done an essay on them. For fuck sake though I never believed they were actually real! And Joseph… how could he be? He was so… so normal.  
I sunk down to the bottom of the shower and lifted my knees up to place my head on. Lexi had gone out with Bella and Edward and I began to feel so alone.  
I could feel the hot tears welling up in my eyes again. 'I can't cry' I thought to myself, if I start to cry again I'm afraid I won't be able to stop.  
But with that I couldn't hold it in any longer.  
I sat in the bottom of the shower huddled to my knees and just sobbed.


End file.
